Site Description

The memorial on the Esplanade, Mumbles Road, Swansea, is a war memorial after Lutyens’ Whitehall cenotaph designed by Ernest E Morgan, borough architect of Swansea. The foundation stone was laid 1 July 1922 by Field Marshall Earl Haig, and it was unveiled 21 July 1923 by Sir F C Doveton Sturdee, Admiral of the Fleet.

The memorial is on a stepped base, and the central Portland stone cenotaph has a stylised tomb-chest, and bronze low relief wreaths to the narrow sides with the dates 1914-1918’ and ‘1939-1945’; the broad sides have (facing the sea) a bronze relief of an anchor in a wreath, and (to the land) the Swansea arms below which the inscription: ‘Pro Deo Rege et Patria’. The cenotaph precinct is surrounded by an octagonal wall with four entrances, with the outer faces of wall in grey stone (with flower beds) and the inner faces having copings and entrance piers in Portland stone. The inner faces of the wall bear bronze plaques with names of the fallen, and stones recording the foundation and unveiling. It is a fine example of monument type in prominent position.